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By Robert L. Wilson

Computation of reserve tonnages, stripping ratios, and grade of ore has long been a revolting aspect of the young mining engineer's job. Weeks at the desk calculator may turn into months before a single job is completed. Then many additional hours are necessary to check the calculations. During the last decade, computing machines have been widely publicized as instruments which will accomplish fantastic feats. Tales of their magical qualities have overshadowed their most basic characteristics-that of being a labor-saving device. Prior to a discussion of the electronic calculator's use on a mining problem, it may be well to point out that these machines are neither magic nor will they replace the judgment of an experienced engineer. In short, the "mighty morons," as the computors are sometimes called, are excellent labor savers but must be used correctly. They are not a substitute for thinking.

Jan 6, 1961

By Charles H. Hopkins, J. M. Lohr

A COMMERCIAL development requiring a suitable alloy or alloys for sealing into various grades of glass made it desirable to have a more exact knowledge' of the expansion characteristics of the nickel-iron alloys than appeared in the published literature. The expansion of the more common [ ] types of glass under consideration varies from 2.7 to 10.4 X 10-s per degree Centigrade, over the range 20° to 400° C. For reference, the thermal expansion curves of several types of glass used for sealing by the lamp and tube industries are given (Figs. 1 and 2). This paper covers a detailed investigation of the thermal expansion of a series of nickel-iron alloys in which the nickel content varies from 30 to 70 per cent. Particular stress is laid on the alloys that contain between 40 and 55 per cent Ni.

Jan 1, 1938

By R. V. Ramani, R. Stefanko, P. C. Thakur

The effects of diesel exhaust on mine ventilation systems are discussed. Mathematical models for emission of gaseous pollutants from diesel engines and their dispersion into mine air have been developed. Situations likely to prevail in mines were originally modeled using partial differential equations, but only simplified solutions are presented here. Validity of these models has been established by field observation of the growth of carbon monoxide concentrations in mine air environment. Consequently, these models can be used for air requirement calculations for diesel engines in underground mines.

Jan 1, 1977

By Charles M. Haas

WHEN minable ore has been located, the problem of mining is synonymous with the problem of movement --movement of men and equipment to mine the ore, and movement of the ore from the earth to the mills. In slusher drifts and shafts, on shovels and dragline excavators, on churn drills and bulldozers, wire rope is essential to the transportation of men, ore, overburden, and equipment. Although a casual glance creates the impression that all wire ropes are alike, there are crucial differences between ropes. Strand diameter, number of strands, weave, core, and resistance to corrosion all decide the type of job a wire rope can do, and where and how long it can do that job. These factors are, of course, the responsibility of the rope manufacturer. Beyond this, he can extend his function into the mine itself by advising users on the use, care, and maintenance of these sinews of the mining industry. This article, then, covers both the manufacturing and end-use aspects of wire ropes.

Jan 9, 1951

By Leo Horvitz

PETROLEUM and natural gas are composed principally of the saturated hydrocarbons ranging from methane, the lightest, to nonvolatile liquids and solids containing approximately thirty-five carbon atoms. A technique for locating buried accumulations of these hydrocarbons before drilling obviously requires that some of the hydrocarbons leave the deposit and migrate toward the surface of the earth where they may be detected in their original form. Earliest attempts to link near surface hydrocarbons to petroleum at depth were apparently made by Laubmeyer1 in Germany and by Sokolov2 in Russia. These investigators collected samples of soil air from boreholes one to two meters deep and analyzed them for traces of hydrocarbons. They found that soil air over producing areas is richer in these constituents than is soil air over barren areas.

Jan 12, 1954

By Francisco Cadena

THE construction of Norris Dam, built by the Tennessee Valley Authority on the Clinch River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, involved the production of coarse and fine aggregate for approximately 1,000,000 cu. yd. of concrete; A hammer-mill plant for the manufacture of sand from quarried rock was indicated as the most economical method of providing this material. The abrasive character of the feed as compared to the average hammer-mill feed made it necessary to control operations rather closely, and this resulted in the accumulation of many data bearing on production and maintenance. This paper will deal only with three specific sets of data, accompanied by such general infor-mation as miry be necessary to explain the conditions under which they were obtained and followed by discussions on the relation of silica content to hammer wear, comparative costs of slugger and stirrup hammers, and comparative costs of tool-steel and n manganese-steel grate bars.

Jan 1, 1937

By F. S. McNicholas

IN the first big blast at Climax, a "loop back" (three-wire system) was used (Fig. 1), with the idea of securing a wiring system that would give to all series the same amount of current. Single-phase, 60-cycle, 13,800-volt FIG. 1.-Loop BACK. A THREE-WIRE SYSTEM WITH BRANCHES VARYING IN LENGTH. power was furnished to the blasting transformers, each of which has a rated capacity of 600 amp. at 480 volts. Two blasting leads were taken from these transformers, giving a blasting current of single phase, 60 cycle, 480 volts, with an instantaneous capacity of more than 600 amp. The blasting switch was on the secondary leads from the transformers, to avoid lag in energizing them.

Jan 1, 1938

By John J. Reed

The mines of southeast Missouri's Lead Belt have been in operation since 1864, almost 100 years. During this period about 10 pct of the total ore available has been left in place as pillars, and this now represents the best ore reserve left to the older mines. St. Joseph Lead Co. has been investigating various plans of pillar recovery for several years. The example to be described is only one possible approach under a specific set of conditions. Conditions vary greatly in the different areas within the Lead Belt, and the same approach would be entirely in- adequate in certain other areas, but there are important sections where this system is clearly applicable.

Jan 7, 1959

The following is a, partial list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Aug. 10, 1917, to Sept. 10, 1917. L. P. Barrett, Ann Arbor, Mich. Milo W. Krejci, Great Falls, Mont. H. J. Brown, Ridley Park, Pa. Chas. N. La Porte, Peoria, Ill. George M. Cheney, Guayaquil, Ecuador. Askin Nicholas, Bismuth, Australia. W. Lorrain Cook, Chicago, Ill. C. Edwin Nighman, Butte, Mont. John J. Croston, Atlanta, Ga. W. L. Remick, Norfolk, Va. A. F. Duggleby, Santiago de Cuba. T. C. Roberts, Jerome, Ariz. Geo. A. Easley, La Paz, Bolivia. Burr A. Robinson, New Haven, Conn. Burr J. French, Magdalena, Jal., Mex. J. L. Schueler, Peoria, Ill. A. D. R. Galloway, Komfrodua, W. Af. Walter L. Steele, Van Horn, Tex. P. R. Hines, Milwaukee, Wis. F. J. S. Sur, Denver, Colo. T. H. Jenks, Wickenburg, Ariz. C. A. Thomas, Dawson, Y. T., Canada. Paul S. King, Wilmington, Del. E. E. White, Ann Arbor, Mich. Harry Wolf, Golden, Colo. L. W. Bahney has left the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale, to become metallurgical engineer with the Scovill Manufacturing Co., Waterbury, Conn. H. B. Barling, formerly chief engineer of Breitung & Co., of New York, has been appointed manager of the mining department.

Jan 10, 1917

By Paul A. Hodges

With plant start-up slated for early 1966, Palabora Mining Co. will take its place among the large copper mining properties of the World. Located near the town of Phalaborwa in the Lowveld area of Transvaal Province, approximately 250 air miles northeast of Johannesburg, Palabora is the result of a cooperative project between Rio Tinto-Zinc Corp. and Newmont Mining Co. Other large shareholders are American Metal Climax, Inc., Union Corp. Ltd., and Selection Trust Ltd. Earliest known mining activity in the area is thought to date back about 400 years, when the Bantu tribes were migrating southward from the great lakes of Central Africa. Old workings and hand tools have been found in numerous places on the flanks of Loolekop, the hill that contains the outcrop of the Palabora orebody. Nearby ruins of small furnaces give added evidence of the knowledge of copper smelting possessed by these natives.

Jan 3, 1966

• Phelps-Dodge Corp. signed an agreement with the Defense Materials Procurement Agency to increase copper production from the east ore deposit of the company's Copper Queen branch at Bisbee, Ariz. The company agreed to undertake a $25 million expansion program, including construction of a concentrating and leaching plant at the Bisbee mine and enlargement of the Douglas smelter. The Government agreed to buy the first 112,500 tons of the first 150,000 tons produced at 22e per lb if the company could not sell at a higher price. The new facilities will have a yearly capacity of 38,000 tons and should be in production by late 1954 or early 1955. • American Smelting & Refining Co. has started construction of a new building to house the Central Research laboratory at South Plainfield, N. J. It will have approximately 75 individual laboratories and an equal number of offices and shops. Modern apparatus to be installed will include electron microscopes, electric and fuelfired furnaces, miniature copper refineries and zinc plants, wire drawing machinery, and large pilot plant laboratory. In the new building scientists study the base metals, and the development of new uses for a number of Asarco by-products, arsenic, and little

Jan 11, 1951

By Julien Deby

THE sinking of a deep shaft is always a serious undertaking, especially when the strata to be traversed are of great hardness, or when they are feebly coherent or highly saturated with water. In the, first case, that of solid rock, modern appliances, such as the rock-drill, put into motion by air-compressors, along with suitable explosives, will generally answer the purposes of the mining engineer until he has reached the main water-levels. When these have

Jan 1, 1877

By Joseph Kittredge

AT the time this matter first came up in 1912, the National Malleable and Steel Castings Co. had seven basic-bottom open-hearth furnaces in its plant at Sharon, Pa., using fuel oil, then costing about 2 ½ ¢ per gallon. The fuel was satisfactory but its cost fluctuated widely, therefore the use of pulverized coal, which had been successful in the cement industry and in some metallurgical furnaces, was suggested. After a thorough investigation, and an actual trial on one of the open-hearth furnaces, to be certain that the siliceous ash in the coal would not seriously affect the basic slags, the management of this company approved its adoption and a complete installation was started. The conclusion had been reached that the success of the operation depended on pulveriz-ing the coal to greater fineness than had thus far been accomplished, and all equipment was chosen with this in mind. A coal drier was deemed essential, and one of ample capacity and efficiency was selected, which has done all that was expected of it, working without failure and with very small maintenance cost, and is still in operation.

Jan 1, 1939

Jan 1, 1919

By Julien Deby

The sinking of a deep shaft is always a serious undertaking, especially when the strata to be traversed are of great hardness, or when they are feebly coherent or highly saturated with water. In the. first case, that of solid rock, modern appliances, such as the rock-drill, put into motion by air-compressors, along with suitable explosives, will generally answer the purposes of the mining engineer until he has reached the main water-levels. When these have

By Bernard E. Weichman

The oil shales of the Green River formation were deposited in an inland lake which contained abundant plant and animal life. A high percentage of sodium bicarbonate existed in the lower water layers. Digestion of the kerogen-rich mud accumulating on the lake floor lowered the pH of the interstitial waters and precipitated the sodium minerals dawsonite and nahcolite in the kerogen-rich mud. After about five million years of existence, uplift of land areas around the lake caused an influx of clastic sediments which filled up the lake. Continued tectionics gently folded the basin and caused fracturing of the kerogen-lean oil shale. Nahcolite existing in the fractured lean oil shale was dissolved by subsurface waters leaving a tremendous aquifer in a portion of the oil shale. The extent and porosity of the "Leached zone" aquifer is dependent upon the percent of kerogen and nahcolite originally deposited in the oil shale.

Jan 1, 1975

By C. Gutiérrez

Flotation and adsorption studies of ilmenite with technical oleic acid, pure oleic acid, and mixtures of each of them with n-hexadecane have been conducted. From them it is concluded that the depression of ilmenite caused by a too long conditioning time is due to adsorption of the collector onto the fines produced by attrition in the conditioning cell, and that fuel oil is necessary for economic flotation of non-deslimed ilmenite ore. This beneficial effect of fuel oil is attributed to van der Waals forces, of the hydro-carbon chains.

Jan 1, 1978

By L. H. Ketchum, T. L. Theis, W. H. Engelmann

The use of a suspended growth system of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans attached in a film to individual particles of bentonite and operated as a sequencing batch reactor is shown to be a practical way of oxidizing ferrous iron in acid mine drainage. This component, followed by limestone neutralization, is both a technically and economically feasible approach to treating these waste waters, compared to existing and other proposed methods. The advantages, in addition to less expense, are greater safety, acceptable treatment at a lower pH, lower solids buildup, less danger of overtreatment, and greater flexibility in operational characteristics. In this paper, data on the continuous bench scale operation of the system under a variety of conditions shows sustained levels of oxidation in excess of 98%. Capital and operating costs are projected to be $80/1000 m3 ($80 per 35, 000 cu ft) of waste water.

Jan 1, 1985

By T. W. Peterson, J. W. White, E. E. Krist

In developing a minicomputer application for an industrial grinding circuit, the control program is usually coded and the compilation is debugged on a remote access computing system. Final debugging must wait for installation of the minicomputer. This work reports on an alternative. Here both compilation and execution bugs are eliminated before the hardware is installed by testing the control program against a dynamic simulation. Attention is directed toward development of a particular real-time control program for an industrial wet grinding circuit in a copper concentrator. Specific data were supplied by the Anamax Mining Co. for a grinding division consisting of a rod mill followed by two ball mills in parallel. This information was used to set up a plausible model structure.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. S. Vargas, T. W. Chapman, Samuel W-S Tse

Models for interphase mass transfer rates in the solvent extraction of metals are developed for zinc and copper chlorides being extracted by trilsooctylamine and for copper extraction by LIX 64N from ammonia solution. The approach is to adopt a stagnant film model on which film thicknesses are known and to derive the interfacial metal fluxes for the case where all reversible reactions are fast and locally equilibrated. A growing drop mass transfer cell is used to measure extraction rates. It is found that for the cases studied the transfer rates are mass-transfer limited On the other hand, copper extraction by LIX from acidic solution exhibits slow reaction kinetics, and earlier kinetics models are confirmed. Interactions that cause varying selectivity in the simultaneous extraction of copper and zinc chlorides are demonstrated.

Jan 1, 1981